Well everyone, we got some excellent posts in the contest, and almost half of them actually met the word limit! Well done! Read below for some (or all, depending) of the entries.
The winners and their prizes are:
GRAND PRIZE (500 CE + Rose Regalia item): opaopa13 aka Zarizeni in game
2ND PLACE (250 CE): StarCadet
3RD PLACE (100 CE): Airface
HONORABLE MENTION (10 CE): pkninja aka bukkit in game
*Winners can expect to recieve their prizes within the week*
Well done to everyone who participated! If you did not win this time around work on your writing and be patient! A new opportunity for you to use your imagination and skills will arise!
ENTRIES:
Running – by Zarizeni
Just past these vendors. Down the street, across the plaza, and I'm free.
Alyssin pushed his way through the busy marketplace, shouldering aside a guy hawking a Jelly Helm and a newbie asking how to "upgrade gun". He pushed with some restrained urgency through a group of guildmates, obliviously spinning in place. There had been a time, long ago, when he might have considered these people his allies, or at least his compatriots. It was a faded memory, something he knew must have been true, but was now too distant to really believe in. A photo of yourself as a baby is not the experience of being a baby. The photo isn't a lie, but somehow it's just... not real. Alyssin had grown too much to still relate to his naive, ignorant self. But that's what the passage of an entire day can do to a man.
Twenty-four hours ago, he had arrived in Haven and met all manner of Spiral Knights. Now he was leaving, and saw only slaves.
"Our system is better", the Strangers had said. "You won't have to pay a dime." Too good to be true. "Just make sure you bring back lots of crowns, and you can stay as long as you like." Not that the Strangers had to actually speak to say any of this, when there were plenty of Knights willing to parrot it for them. "Just make sure you bring back lots of crowns." So caught up in the idea of a free world, they had agreed to living on borrowed time. The Knights went down, came up wealthy, then traded all that wealth away to go right back down again. Completely free. Just without freedom.
Distractedly, Alyssin slung his empty Mist Tank over his other shoulder. The motion caught the attention of the Energy Stranger, who turned his mask towards Alyssin. It was funny, really: Most people can't pull off a good stare even with an entire face and two working eyeballs. At best, most people never manage more than a respectable "looking at", or a halfway decent "paying attention", and even then you can tell their face is just covering for their brain. But a Stranger's stare was different. A Stranger's stare was brutal. There was something in the absolute precision with which a Stranger regarded you that just reached up and seized you by the brain stem.
Keep walking. Halfway there. Just keep walking don't look DON'T LOOK
But you can't just not look. A few dozen years of society has a hard time being heard over a billion years of evolution all speaking at once. There are neurons in the eye dedicated to detecting symmetry, which seems like an odd sort of thing, until you realize that symmetry in a creature means it's facing you. Looking at you. Considering whether or not you fall under the category of "prey". It's an evolutionary advantage to be tuned to creatures who are evaluating whether there's enough meat on your bones to be worth the fight. And yet, maybe that's still a step up from being regarded by a Stranger. Meat and bones are important, but a Stranger's gaze pierces deeper.
So Alyssin looked, just not at the Stranger directly. A casual sort of look, just off to the side. Just a casual sort of look from a guy with nothing to hide, Alyssin's consciousness said even as he cursed it. Just a completely unsuspicious glance that's definitely not directly at you! It turns out panic can do a lot of damage to subtlety even when you throw a blanket over its head.
But: If Alyssin hadn't looked, he wouldn't have noticed, crawling in the shadow of the building the Stranger was set up in front of, the wretched figure. It took a second glance to realize it was a Knight, scrambling to pick up a handful of crowns which had spilled across the dirt of the alley. His frantic scooping seemed to be knocking as many coins out of the pile he was desperately collecting as it gathered, but after a few moments the Knight collapsed backwards onto his butt, counting the tiny treasures. Sad, really. Pathetic. In need of help. I bet if...
DON'T YOU DARE. Evolution saw the thought coming and moved to derail it. Humanitarianism was a fine idea, in the abstract. But the "human" bit had only been around for a piddling ten thousand years. I AM YOUR SURVIVAL INSTINCT, AND I WAS HERE FIRST.
That's the blessing and the curse of having a brain, though. Sometimes, maybe once in a while, society gets to cast the veto.
So, still not-looking at the Stranger (which is to say, looking, but with enough guile to disguise that fact from a tree or a particularly dull cow), Alyssin made his way over to the alley. As he stepped from the oppressive heat into the shadows, the chill immediately bit into his fingers, tiny icicles of something that certainly couldn't be fear running through his heart. The Knight's armor was scuffed and muddied, his eyes wild and unfocused. He had the look of someone who hadn't slept in days and, worse, his armor didn't have any Normal defense. He was finishing up his tally of the crowns clutched in his hand, the crowns-to-crystal energy exchange rate spilling out his lips. Alyssin wasn't a mind-reader, and yet he could see the wretch's single thought as clear as day: "One more run."
The setup wasn't fair at all. Literally, actually literally in the shadow of the Energy Market? It was the sort of blatant metaphor that would make a Literature professor throw a punch. It was like the Knight had paused in his addiction-fueled madness to say, "Now, before I continue being an utter mess, what would be the most symbolic place for me to have a meltdown? Any possibility of being the centerpiece of a heart-rending tableau, by any chance?" Alyssin half-expected to find a Devilite labeled "INNER DEMON" to show up.
Oh well. Nothing for it. "Hey there," he ventured cautiously. "Just get back from a Jelly King run?"
The Knight looked up at him, his mouth slowly forming a perfectly round O of surprise. "H-how did you know?" he asked with utter awe. Alyssin's gaze briefly flicked to the fresh Jelly drippings running off the Knight's Jelly-caked armor, forming a Jelly pool where he sat. "Lucky guess," he lied. "How many runs has it been today?"
"O-oh, this is just my fifth," the Knight eventually managed, "Pretty g-good profits, too. D-didn't have to revive at all, but we hit a deconstruction zone, and most of the S-sparks..." Alyssin tuned out as he rambled on. Let him get it out of his system. One last chance to parade his naivety. "...so I th-think as soon as the exchange rate d-dips again, I'll buy enough for my next run..." Ah, there it was.
"Has it occurred to you," Alyssin began, "That by spending your crowns on crystal energy, you're sacrificing the very " click
The world stopped. Alyssin no longer heard the bustle of the crowd, the carefree chirping of snipes getting underfoot, the gentle hum of the alchemy machine in action, the incessant clink of the nervously-gripped crown pile. Right now, all he could hear was one sound. It was a sound he had been hearing along, actually, his brain slowly unrolling the facts, but now -- now it was louder. A little louder, a little closer. The sound -- the click and the whrrrrrr of the Energy Stranger -- was right at the mouth of the alley now. Alyssin turned, and saw the slim curve of a blue mask just now peeking around the corner. Click.
WhrrrrrrrrRRRRRR.
Alyssin's feet started moving on their own, his spinal cord having decided that the torso and so on could catch up with the situation in their own time. He spun as he started his stride, and the discombobulation gave his (STUPID, STUPID) brain to make a decision of its own. As he straightened out, one arm looped down to hook the arm of the Jelly-soaked Knight.
"I-I-I just need four more Jelly Gems to buy a Sealed Sword, so if ooof I have any luck I'll be able to craft a Faust..." the Knight rambled even as he was hauled to his feet. If you were lucid enough to run, I wouldn't have to regret stopping to help! screamed one part of Alyssin's conscience, while a darker part added, If you had been deadweight, I could have left you without a second thought. But instead the Knight had proven to be merely cloddish, stumbling along as Alyssin's furiously yanked on his arm.
His legs starting to pump, the burn of the sprint just starting, Alyssin risked a glance behind him. The Stranger was in the alley now, his cloak whipping around the corner, his face a mask of... alright, his face was still just actually a mask. But his body, what could be discerned underneath the costume, was rippling. "Humanoid" no longer seemed to apply to its shape. "Swarm", perhaps, fit better. But not nearly as well as "angry".
Alyssin ran faster.
"T-the thing that most people don't realize about waiting for Arenas...", the prattle continued. The ground here was muddy, wet from the run-off of a gutter, the footing shoddy. "If that t-time would otherwise be spent r-running a non-optimal..."
"But why do you run at all?" Alyssin asked, slightly surprised at himself. Perhaps he somehow believed that getting the Knight's mind working would get his legs working as well. He took advantage of the brief stupefication to haul his reluctant luggage around a corner, blood pumping through his legs. A few second later, he could hear The Stranger overshoot behind him. It has trouble turning, keep putting corners between you and it. There's still hope.
"W-why?" Face muscles bunched up in concentration, as if meeting to discuss the question right between the Knight's eyes. "Well, I make enough crowns to buy back the Crystal Energy, so my profits..."
The tapedeck sounds were closer now, but not as close as the thousand little claws scrabbling on loose dirt. Alyssin skidded onto a sidepath, cursed lividly at the dead end in front of him, ignored the ache of his back muscle as he fought against their own momentum, doubled-back. "So you spend energy to make crowns," he tried again, trying another corner, "And then you spend crowns to buy energy, but what's the point?"
The Knight started to speak, stopped, choked a half-formed thought down, tried again. "If... if I make a profit... then even if I reduce the total amount of crystal energy..." His legs were starting to move now, trying to keep up.
"Where does it end?" Alyssin screamed, the maze of alleys growing narrower here, choking out what little sunlight had managed to find its way into these backstreets before. The mechanical sounds of The Stranger echoed off of every wall. "Where does the profit go?"
"Where does... it... end..." the Knight's eyes glazed over, focusing on an unseen horizon. Alyssin glared at the fool, then instinctively followed his gaze...
THERE! A bit of sunshine betrayed what looked like a dead end as two sharp turns, right then left, leading onward. Sucking in a mouthful of air, Alyssin pushed his body around the bend. There were no more alleys here, no sidepaths, no deviations. Just a road and an impossibly bright light beckoning them at the end.
And just behind, the rustle of cloak, the soft whoompf of an impossibly agile body touching down, the tick of inevitability.
"If I only run..." the mouth of the alley was still a dozen yards away, "to buy more gear..." Alyssin's body burned with exhaustion, begging him to give up, "to go deeper..." now the sun hit their eyes, painful, "to make more profit...", as if the photons were shoving them backwards, into the maw, "then... then..." the maw of the Stranger now on top of them having caught up too late it was just too late, "then..." the leathery cloak descended, sharp steel blades and saws and hooks and teeth sinking into
"I get it!"
And suddenly all around them was the Town Plaza, the bright, warm Town Plaza, the mill and idle chatter of Knights enjoying yet another pleasant day on Cradle. Alyssin whipped around, struggling to take deep, ragged breaths, joints aching. The alley was well behind them, at least a few meters farther than where he thought it should have been. His brain struggled with the fact that the alley was narrow. It was narrow when they were running through it, right? But although nothing had changed, he now saw the alley was barely wide enough for one Knight to sidle through it, much less...
"The only reason to run is to enjoy the run!"
The Knight gripped Alyssin's shoulders, shaking him out of his daze. "I get it now! There's nothing but the run itself! Running well is profit, and profit is easier runs, but what's the point if you're miserable? Run if it pleases, don't if it doesn't. I was so caught up with advancement, with wealth, with status, that I had forgotten myself entirely! Thank you! This truth you've shown me..."
"What? No, no no." Alyssin explained, gently dislodging himself. "I just meant that spending crowns on energy is sacrificing advancement."
An awkward silence descended.
A snipe regarded them curiously, shrugged, floated off.
"If they made the Mist Tanks larger, you see... you could run more on the weekends, without having to wait..."
The fountain burbled. A few newbies rushed past them, Proto Gear gleaming, nearly immaculate.
"It's just too expensive as it is. It's... it's like, $3 for a 5-star weapon..."
Far to the north, the sound of steel lurching into motion could be heard. A brief scraping loud enough to flatten eardrums, following by the not-unpleasant "chunk chunk chunk" of gear teeth aligning, one-by-one. A vibration coming up through their feet told them that a new Gate was just now slotting into place. Brand new. Unexplored.
"I should go," the Knight said. And left.
Alyssin turned towards the Arcade, watching the happy Knights line up for their turn.
"I have heard that the Spiral Order's mightiest Knight wears a coat made from the pelt of a Vog Wolver. Slain during The Beta Dynasty, it is held in the greatest reverence by all who behold it. Knights prostrate themselves before it, hoping to touch a single hair of its blessed fur. Armorsmiths weep to behold it, knowing they will never craft anything as fine. There is no greater symbol of strength in our society, nothing held in higher respect.
"Tell me now: If you were a Vog Wolver, would you prefer to sacrifice your life and leave your dead skin to be an object of worship for the rest of time? Would it please you to know your corpse would be so highly regarded?
"Or would you prefer to live as a plain Vog Wolver that lives its natural life happily wallowing in magma?
"Go, and take your promises with you. Leave me to wallow in my magma."
- On Society, from Chuang-Tzhoo. Wise Philosopher. Never Earned Tier 3 Access.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The First Departure - by StarCadet
There was a time before we were given refuge in Haven by the Strangers. A time before we could create and manipulate the gates that allow us access to Cradle’s underbelly. In the beginning we orbited around Cradle—we only had enough supply to keep us afloat. If we landed, there was a chance we couldn’t get the ship back up again (and I doubt we would have found a good place for a landing strip). We needed to find an energy source to fuel our ship and our techs told us of this massive reading of energy from beneath the surface. That sounded promising, so we went on our mission to collect energy to power the Skylark. That was supposed to be the plan anyway.
I wasn’t elite or anything like that. I was just a rookie assigned to help General Chaol as he descended to the planet with General Lach and the other rookies. I only remember the names of two others now that were closest to me—Essie and Vesbur. Essie and I wore the standard issue magic hood, hers being purple and mine yellow. Vesbur wore the standard issue cobalt helm, his being a light blue. All of us wore the same standard cobalt armor to indicate that we were rookies.
I remember these two the most because they were the ones who shared a cabin with me and the ones who I’ve trained with. We met when we first enrolled to be Spiral Knights aboard the Skylark and since then, we’ve stood by each other. When we were assigned to General Chaol’s band, we were ecstatic—finally to be off the Skylark and to be able to explore with the ground beneath our feet.
We set up camp after we landed and made friends with these strange creatures that we called the Strangers. They helped us by offering items to aid us construct our camp and allowed us access to the energy they had saved up so we could power our machines. It was soon that the techs were able to get a reading of what was underneath our feet and we learned only a glimpse of the world below us. It was General Chaol’s idea to construct a “gate” to get access to the energy we had detected. The Strangers gathered for us the material for the gate and us rookies were in charge of the menial labor as the generals and the techs figured out the exact plans.
“Man, I just wanted to explore,” Vesbur said when we were assigned to put together the lift mechanics.
Essie laughed. “We have to have the means to explore first,” she said as she grabbed a bolt and started to screw it in place.
“We could have done this aboard the Skylark though,” I said.
“Just make sure we do a great job,” Essie pointed out. “So they take notice and choose us to go down first—that’ll be a huge honor I bet.”
Vesbur nodded and started to put together his pieces a bit faster. “The sooner we get done here, the sooner we get to explore, right?”
Essie and I nodded and we started to match our pace with Vesbur. The idea of just exploring what was underneath us made us all excited. We had a glimpse of the land below us from the monitors the techs set up, and it looked amazing. I never would have guessed a huge world such as that could exist underground, and one that seemed to change every day. I must have been daydreaming a bit as one of the Wardens yelled at me to stop idling and get back to work. Essie and Vesbur laughed at me, but I still couldn’t help thinking about what awaited us.
Once the gate had been built we were all eager to pile on the lift so we could check it out, but the generals didn’t allow us at first. Instead, we had to leave it alone as they decided how exactly we should prepare for the journey down. Essie, Vesbur and I weren’t the happiest about that, but this wasn’t time to announce our annoyance. One never did that to a general and we all held our tongues and waited like we were told.
As the generals debated on how exactly to go about our journey, the Strangers gave us a gift—little mechanisms that attached to our armor in which we could use to return to the camp at any time. All we had to do was tap the button twice and we’d materialize back at the camp all safe and sound. The generals tried it out first; they went down the lift and in a few minutes, materialized back in front of us. All of us rookies thought it was amazing—we were even more eager to explore now that there was no real danger—if the energy in our armor ran out, we could come back up to rest. If we got surrounded by whatever dangers lurked below, just a few taps and we’d be safe again. But the generals were still wary.
“Even if we have an out, we must proceed with caution,” General Lach warned the rookies after the Strangers had given us the devices. “Recklessness will only lead to our destruction, do you all understand?”
We all nodded, a bit embarrassed he had to remind us of that. Could he blame us though?
General Lach wanted to explore first with a few of his knights. Even though General Chaol argued that he should be first as General Lach was the brains behind this whole mission, General Lach won in the end saying that General Chaol was in charge of the new recruits and he needed to stay in the camp for morale. General Lach chose three of his best knights—ones I barely knew—and stepped onto the lift. We all saluted them, the brave ones who would lead the way, and the lift started down.
They never came back.
In the time they were gone, no one touched the lift—General Chaol had forbidden it. The techs tried to get in contact with General Lach, but to no avail. They were gone. We all wanted to barge in after them, our swords and guns at the ready—what if they needed help? But General Chaol warned us not to go down the lift and had the Spiral Wardens keep watch to make sure none of us were stupid enough to try. Vesbur tried once, but one of the Spiral Wardens knocked him back without batting an eye.
“Do you think General Chaol will go looking?” Essie asked one night as we relaxed in camp. She, Vesbur and I had finished helping the techs construct a few more machines to help survey the land below our feet.
“Maybe he’s already gone down—I haven’t seen him since last night,” Vesbur said as he sat back, leaning against his hands.
“He told us we weren’t allowed to go in alone,” I pointed out.
Essie shook her head as she readjusted her hood. “But he has that huge sword,” she said. “And that huge shield—I think he’d be fine if he did.”
“Even still.” Vesbur sighed. “General Lach didn’t survive—I figured those two were about equal.”
“Maybe he just got sidetracked,” I offered as I rested my chin on my palm.
“But for this long?” Essie as she stared at me.
Optimism could only get us so far. I looked away and shrugged. Whatever happened, the fact was that General Lach was gone. We went to bed shortly after that and as I lay trying to go to sleep, I pressed my ear against the ground. Maybe my mind had been playing tricks on me, but I thought I heard the sound of burning deep below.
The next morning, General Chaol emerged from his tent, proving that he hadn’t gone down without us, and rounded all of us up in front of the gate. Even in his Azure Guardian armor, he looked fatigued. His once shining green eyes had dulled and he moved slower than he had before. He paced in front of everyone as he gathered his thoughts.
“General Lach has been gone for a week,” he said, stating something all of us had already known. A few knights nodded and he continued. “Another general is descending from the Skylark at noon and that gives me the opportunity to launch a search party.”
He stopped and faced us, hands behind his back. A few knights bounced on their feet, excited for the chance to leave this camp, just as they had been excited to leave the Skylark when we first descended. “I will only allow three to accompany me down,” he said and surveyed the knights. He listed three names—Essie’s, Vesbur’s, and mine—and beckoned us forward.
Vesbur wasted no time breaking out of ranks and almost skipped toward the general—though he hid his excitement as soon as he stood next to the general. Essie and I were just as excited I’m sure, but we had enough sense to contain it for professionalism’s sake as we slipped out of rank and stood next to him.
“We will be the rescue team for now,” General Chaol said. A few knights watched us in disappointment—envious of our sudden new importance. “Once we figure this out, I assure you we will continue our exploration.” The general paused and took a deep breath. “You are under the command of the Wardens until General Alari gets down here or until I come back.” He dismissed the rest of the knights and the Wardens took command and shouted off orders for today’s plans.
“I don’t know what’s down there,” General Chaol whispered to us after all the knights had dispersed. He looked at us and from up close, I could tell he hadn’t had a good night’s rest since General Lach had disappeared. “I won’t hesitate to tell you that if it got General Lach, it may just barrel through us—but we must try to find out what happened and report back so other knights can go in unheeded.”
Easy enough—we all nodded in agreement. Kozma, the Quartermaster who came down with us, supplied us with the best armor she had on hand and the Strangers loaded us with health capsules and trinkets for luck. Once ready, we stepped onto the lift and we descended.
The land below wasn’t difficult in the least bit. We sliced through the enemies with ease—zombies turned back to dust under pressure from our blades and bullets, slimes fell apart under attack, and ghosts dissipated as soon as we engaged battle. Vesbur joked to me that if this was what General Lach fell to, he must not have been very great to begin with. Though that earned a glare from General Chaol and we dropped the subject almost immediately.
We reached the descending lift in minutes and when we went down, that’s when it all changed. The land was alight with fire at every glance and the zombies that sprung up breathed fire on our shields as we charged through them. We dodged falling debris as we adventured further and circumvented the paths that were too consumed with flames. I felt so hot under my armor and I could barely breathe in this heat, it was all just too much. General Chaol urged us to go further however, and we sucked in our discomfort and continued. As we ventured further—battling the zombies aflame and dodging the debris—we heard a voice from the darkness.
“What’s this?” it asked, its voice gruff, like the sound of fire crackling. “More wolves here for the blood of Almire?”
General Chaol shouted something as he moved, but seconds after I heard that voice, I lost consciousness as my body was flung sideways. A burning sensation raced through my limbs and I heard Essie and Vesbur scream, but darkness overtook my vision and I could feel nothing else.
My energy pack was sending out shrill beeps, indicating that it was low on energy and that’s what I awoke to. I opened my eyes and I found I was covered in ashened debris. Because my energy was so low, it was hard to move my armor, but I was able to turn my head and I found General Chaol nearby. He breathed heavily and flattened himself against the wall as he watched something in front of him. It stomped around us, making the whole room shake with its steps and debris constantly fell from above us.
“Good, you’re alive,” General Chaol whispered when he saw the lights of my eyes. He leaned closer to me and placed a hand on my back to keep me flattened. A blade shot over our heads and into the wall, sprinkling little sparks of fire over us. The general patted those out quietly as the sword was pulled from the wall and the loud being walked away from us. After a few seconds, he leaned toward me again. “You need to get back to camp and—”
“Where are—”
“Shush,” he snapped. “I’ll find them after you leave,” he hissed. “You all got hit at the same time from that sword and I lost track of you all when the debris fell.”
I nodded and reached a hand into my pocket, though because my energy was so low, even moving my arms was difficult. I gave him the health capsules I had leftover from our excursion and slowly rolled over on my back so I could get to my returning mechanism. I tapped it just like the Strangers instructed us to, but nothing happened. I tried again, but still nothing happened.
“What’s wrong?” the general asked after he had swallowed one of the capsules.
“It’s not working,” I said, feeling the panic rise in me.
“Must have broken when he hit the lot of you,” General Chaol said and cursed under his breath. He pulled off his own returning device and attached it to my armor.
“I can’t take yours!” I made a reach to remove it, but he pulled my hand away.
“One of us has to get out of here,” General Chaol said as he leaned over me again—the sword sliced above our heads and we held our breaths as the debris covered us again. I wished I could silence that beeping coming from my energy pack—but whatever it was that had the sword moved away from us again, evidently figuring my beeping wasn’t worth investigating under the debris.
General Chaol lifted himself, but only slightly to make sure we were still covered and hidden. He pressed his hand over the return mechanism. I tried to protest but he shushed me again. “I can take this guy down,” he said. “I just need to make sure my knights are safe. I need you to tell General Alari what happened and see if the Strangers can help alter this gate so no one else has to come down here—this is too dangerous.”
I didn’t believe him—he looked ragged and his armor torn. I wanted to stand up and fight with him, but I couldn’t. “I-I understand,” I said and nodded.
“Godspeed,” he whispered and tapped the return mechanism.
My body began to shift and General Chaol stood up—the debris falling off his back in an almost heroic fashion. My vision of this fiery hell began to fade as I watched the general charge, his sword guiding the way. All I saw next was a fiery sword swinging across him and my vision faded completely. Did I hear someone scream as my body started to return? I was never sure, but that sound has always remained with me to this day.
When my vision refocused, I could see the sky—I was back at camp in front of the lift. One of the Strangers saw me first and went to get another knight to help me. But I didn’t focus on that—instead I caught sight of the Skylark above me. Only it was smoking and charging for the surface, little orbs escaping every which way from the body. I could barely move as I watched it—I had no idea what had happened, but it was crash landing. But this place wasn’t safe. I wanted to scream that, tell them to go back, go somewhere else. With that thing down there, knights weren’t safe. I couldn’t even raise my voice—regardless, it would have all been for naught because there was no stopping its descent and the escape pods had nowhere else to go.
My body still tensed with pain and I could still feel the flames dancing all across my armor. As the Stranger came back with one of the Wardens, my vision darkened.
General Chaol never returned, and nor did Essie or Vesbur. My comrades were gone. As soon as I was fine enough to talk, General Alari grilled me for information. I told him everything and he watched me, quiet, soaking in all the details from my story. In the end, he nodded and stood up. More and more knights were filling up our camp now—we had to do something.
I heard later that the generals met up and reconfigured the gate so that it wouldn’t go down to that fiery hell anymore. That was when the Strangers invited us to Haven and gave us access to their services and showed us where we could build even more gates. The techs also learned how they could predict what would be in the levels of the gate—we knew what was below our feet now. We found that fiery hell again, but we also learned we could avoid it for the time being.
This camp became the rescue camp for the new knights still being found emerging from their escape pods. The gate a testing ground for the new knights, but it never went below one level to ensure we wouldn’t find that fiery hell again so early. As I went to join the other knights in Haven, I learned that we had been given a new mission: gather the materials to supplement ourselves and to fix the Skylark.
I didn’t care about that though. When I recovered, the only thing I wanted to do was find that fiery beast down in the gates and get revenge. It’s been a while since then and I’ve made a few more comrades while I recovered and have been able to procure new armor with the help of the Strangers. New recruits keep showing up at Haven, their pods finally finding their way to the surface. I think we’re ready to take down that beast and get revenge. I just know it. With an army we’ll show it our full strength.
As I step onto the lift and adjust my sword, I feel the memory of the fire dancing on my armor. It doesn’t frighten me; rather it makes me even more determined. I will take that beast down.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Story of Caede - by Airface
“Ready, son?”, a gruff voice called from the other room.
Caede wasn’t sure that he was. After years of fighting the monsters that threatened the place that he called home, he was finally had enough to craft top of the line weapons. Now, Caede thought to himself, I can go deeper towards the core than I ever have before. Now, I can face Vanaduke and defeat him.
But Caede was still nervous. Never before had he entered the kingdom that Vanaduke claimed as his own. He had defeated the Jelly King, yes, but he had always considered the task extremely easy. He and his friends had defeated him and his minions time and time again, and he had never truly feared for his life. This, however, was different. This was Vanaduke.
“C’mon, kid. You got a big day ahead of ya.”, said the man with a thick beard who was entering the room. “You’ve been preparing for this day for longer than I can even remember—though my mind is goin’ a bit.”
He paused to look at his son, who had just finished putting on his armor, “One too many hits from a Lumber, if you know what I mean.”
Caede smiled at his father. Peter was a strong man, if somewhat reckless. He had a heavily offensive style of fighting, which usually meant he used his shield less and got hit very often. However, he was resilient, so despite his injuries, he still managed to defeat many a monster. Caede always admired his father’s style of play, even if it differed significantly from his own style. Caede appreciated a more balanced style, being a cautious but deadly fighter.
“You look good, son. I don’t have much left in me—certainly not enough for Vanaduke… but you, son, you got it in you. Make me proud, boy.”
“Yes, father. I… I can’t lie though, I’m nervous. I’ve heard dark tales about Vanaduke and his citadel. I know I will have friends by my side… but I fear that I am not strong enough.”, Caede said nervously.
Peter laughed heartily, “It’s good for you to be nervous, Caede! Hell, if you weren’t nervous, I’d start thinkin’ twice about sendin’ you down there! A good case ‘a nerves will make you think twice about doin’ somethin’ dangerous. And you’re stronger than any of the boys your age. You’ll do just fine. I just wish your mother were here to see you off.”
Caede took a deep breath and smiled.
“You’re right, dad. You always are. I just—“
“Cae! Cae! I made you something!”, said a small girl running into the room. “Here!”
The young girl placed a pendant in his hands.
“I saved up my allowance and bought you this! So, you’re safer when you go down there!”
“A heart pendant.” Caede said softly, “Thank you Molli. This is perfect.”
Caede kissed his sister on the cheek and ruffled up here hair.
“Caede!” Molli exclaimed, pushing him away, “Don’t mess up my hair! And you’re welcome! I just want my big bro to okay, okay? So, don’t get hurt!”
“I’ll try not to, Molli.” Caede said, trying to sound as confident as possible.
He sighed and looked at the clock. “Well, I should get going. Spiral Warden insisted that we get there at 10 o’ clock and not a second later” Caede said with a roll of his eyes.
“I wish I could come with ya, son. I believe in ya. Good luck.” His father gave him a rough hug that crushed all the air out of him.
“Yeah, dad… thanks.” Caede said with a cough as he rubbed his back.
“Bye, Cae. I’ll see you soon!” Molli said with a smile, as she, too, hugged Caede goodbye.
“Yeah, Mol, see you soon.”
And with that, Caede made his way out of the hut and made his way towards the elevator that would soon change life as he knew it.
____________________
“Hey, Dominus.” Caede said as he walked up to a group of boys his age, “Virtu, Ira.” He nodded to the other two.
Caede has been friends with the three for as long as he could remember. All of them had been born shortly after the crash that trapped them on this dangerous planet. They were among the first children to become warriors to defend and protect their new homeland. All were top students in their schooling, excelling in swordsmanship, gunmanship, defensive style, and incredibly astute bomb placement—though some were better than others.
Ita, the only girl of the group, was among the highest ranking bombers in the entire settlement. She knew not only where to place bombs, but when. She knew when to rely on bombs and when it was best to join the group in hand-to-hand combat. She loved freezing her enemies, so naturally she carried her Glacius and Shivermist Buster with her in all of her battles. She knew the advantage of being able to stop approaching enemies was too great to pass up, and her skills were some of the most important in defeating Vanaduke.
Virtu was an excellent swordmaster. He carried with him two powerful swords with which to slice and dice his opponents. His Cold Iron Vanquisher would, of course, be essential in defeating Vanaduke’s army. The Divine Avenger, while slower than other swords, fit his fighting style well and would also be quite beneficial in the fight against these monsters. Virtu was a careful and deliberate fighter, and this made him a powerful ally in battle.
Dominus was the most reckless in the group. He ran into battle without a second thought and attacked with speed and precision. His defensive skills, however, were lacking, but he made up for this with his ability to quickly avoid the strikes of his enemies. He wasn’t always successful in avoiding attacks, and he knew that if he was going to make it through battling Vanaduke alive, he needed to adopt a slightly more cautious style of fighting. He most often used his sword, the Combuster, to kill his enemies. While Ita saw the value in freezing, Dom—as his friends usually call him—felt fire was far more powerful. Nothing pleased him more than seeing his enemies run about with their cloaks aflame. He also had a Nitronome bomb, though he didn’t enjoy using it nearly enough. While he loved pushing the enemies back when getting overwhelmed, he had a fierce desire for hand-to-hand combat.
And of course, there is Caede. Caede was the only one in the group who preferred hand guns. While he enjoyed hand-to-hand combat, he saw it advantageous to kill enemies from afar. Not only did it keep him safer, but he could help kill enemies his friends were engaging in swordfights. His trusty gun, the Storm Driver, rarely failed him. While he hated being shocked himself, he saw how easily shock could turn the tides of battle when used upon the enemy. As for his sword, he carried with him a Dread Venom Striker as he wanted a sword that was both fast and dangerous. Poisoning his enemies, he thought, was an added bonus.
“Caede!”, Dominus said loudly. “You ready, friend?”
“I certainly hope so. It’s now or never.”, said Caede with a grin.
“It’s most definitely now.”, Ita chimed in. “I think it’s a bit late to back out now.”
“I don’t think Cae has backed out of anything in his life. I don’t think we’ll need to worry about that.”, said Virtu, as he smiled at Caede.
“I dunno… do you remember that one time in—“ Dominus started, but was quickly stopped by Caede.
“We agreed never to speak of that.” Caede said sharply.
Dominus laughed and shrugged it off and the others looked at the two curiously, but felt it was best to drop it.
“Ah,” said the Spiral Warden as he approached the group. “There you are, kids. Come, follow me, we are almost ready to send you off.”
The foursome exchanged nervous looks, and then followed the warden to the elevator that would send them into battle.
“Alright, guys, so I know you already know the plan, but I’m going to go over it again anyway. We calibrated the elevators, so we’re sending you down immediately to the terminal. There, Basil will make sure you’re send down to the Citadel with no issues. Please do tell him that I said hi. Once in the Citadel, be careful. I know that goes without saying, but I feel that I should remind you. This will be more dangerous than anything you guys have ever done, but I trust that you can do it. Once you defeat Vanaduke and his army—and I know you will succeed—speak to the men in the Core. They will have valuable information for you, and will provide you with all the food and drinks that you desire after such a strenuous battle.”
The Spiral Warden looked at the group before him with pride. He had helped train these youngsters to be powerful and dangerous warriors.
“I know you guys can do it. Just remember all that we have taught you. Good luck. You can now step onto the elevator.”
Dominus rushed onto the elevator, and was shortly followed by Ita and Virtu. Caede hesitated and looked to the Spiral Warden. The warden smiled at him and gave him a thumbs up.
“Alright, guys,” Caede said, a newfound confidence in his voice, “Let’s do this.”
____________________
The elevator quickly brought them down to the terminal, where they would meet up with Basil to make their final descent. They all looked at each other, but no one said a word. Tension filled the air. The elevator clanged to a stop and the doors opened to reveal a cloaked Basil.
“Come, children.” he said deeply.
The four followed Basil to the next elevator that would bring them down to face Vanaduke and his army.
“I know you must be nervous, children. But knight such as yourself have bravely fought and defeated these monsters. You, too, have the strength and perseverance to make it through. Be brave, children. Be brave.”
And with that, Basil gestured to the group to enter the elevator.
Caede took a deep breath and took a step towards the elevator. He quickly stopped, remembering the trinket his sister had given him that morning. Hastily, he clasped the pendant around his neck. Satisfied with its placement, he stepped onto the elevator with his friends to descend into the great unknown.
____________________
“Oh. My. God.” came the startled voice of Ita as she stared up at the gate before her. There was fire everywhere. Spiked wheels crashed into the gate, putting a foreboding air into the atmosphere. They were expecting danger, but they were never expecting this.
Caede took a deep breath and gathered his thoughts before he spoke.
“We’ve made it this far, guys. This may look scary as hell, but we can’t turn back now. We can do this. We can do this.” Caede said confidently, though his voice was shaky.
“That’s insane, Caede. I’ve never seen anything like it before. I mean, I know we’re strong… but this is intense.” Virtu said nervously.
“Come on, guys!” Dominus exclaimed. “Excitement! Danger! Winning against all odds! This is what being a knight is all about! If we turn back now, we’re nothing. C’mon. Let’s beat these guys.”
Dom stepped onto the button that would open the gates and looked at the others expectantly. Caede smiled at Dom, and was glad to have his support. He, too, stepped onto the button.
Ita and Virtu both looked nervous, but they knew how important this was—to themselves, to their families, and to the Spiral Knight society as a whole. They needed to do this. They stepped upon the button and the gates opened, letting in a flurry of wheels and enemies.
All fought valiantly through the hordes of zombies. Room after room, they dealt with fire, zombies, spiked wheels and more. They were strong fighters, and while there were many close calls, all survived through each room unscathed. The Trojans had been close to killing all of them, but quick thinking and fierce fighting saved them from certain doom. Some rooms were easier than others. In one, they were provided a healing station that allowed them to recover slowly, but surely. This respite, however, was short. They soon went further into battle, and despite all scars, injuries, and fears, they kept fighting. They couldn’t just stop and give up. They needed to keep fighting, no matter the cost.
Finally, though it took a long time—though the knights were hardly keeping track of time—they entered Vanaduke’s throne room, where they would finally meet the ruler who had destroyed many people and kingdoms. It was time to bring down this monster.
“Alright guys, this is it. This is our time. It is time to rid ourselves and our families of this menace. Let’s do it.” Caede said, with anger and confidence ringing in his voice.
Ita charged her bomb, to freeze and kill any creatures that dared come near her.
Dominus readied his sword, and was eager to rush in and kill all that stood in his way.
Virtu, calm and collected, held his sword at the ready, to avenge the deaths of those before him.
Caede had his trusty gun out. He knew that now, when it mattered most, his shots would aim true.
There was a long battle. There were many times where a teammate was fallen, and another swooped in to revive them and continue the fight. They were tired and sore, but they continued to fight with heart. Never before had they dealt with so much fire or bloodshed. Never before had they faced something so cruel and powerful. Never before had they faced this. Yet they fought. They fought like their life depended on it—which it did. None of them knew how long it took them. None of them wanted to know. They just knew when the last sword hit Vanaduke, when the last shot rang out, when the last bomb had exploded… they had won. Vanaduke was defeated. His army was in ruins. They had beaten the dreaded king.
They all smiled and hugged each other fiercely. They had grown closer in the fight, though they had already been close friends. They knew now, that they were family—that no matter what, they would always have each other’s back. They walked through the smoke and dying flames towards the elevator that would take them to the Core. They all remembered fondly the stories they heard as children about the Core. Now story was becoming reality, and they were about to witness what few had ever seen. The Core.
____________________
“Welcome, brave knights. Feel free to wander around and speak to the others. Here we will allow you to rest up and gather any information you need to. You may ask questions, but remember, we do not have all of the answers. Relax and enjoy your stay here, young warriors, for you certainly have earned that right.”, said the knight at the entrance to the Core. “I implore you to go speak to Vaelyn, for he has much to share.”
The four, though tired and weak, were excited to speak to those living in the core of their world. It was exhilarating. They immediately went to speak to Vaelyn.
“Welcome, knights. You must have been strong both in body and mind to reach this place. I applaud you. I imagine you are wondering what it is exactly that we are trying to do here. I shall tell you.
“We are trying to find a way to activate the Core, to put it simply. We have been trying to use minerals—the ones you collect in your adventures—to somehow activate the Core, but we have had little success. We are here to glean as much information as we can in hopes to somehow activate it. The activation of the Core may lead to our freedom from this planet. If, perhaps, we can somehow harness the energy, then maybe we’ll have some way to get out.
“As for the Core itself, we believe it is the central network to all that you see in the Clockworks. It is the brain, if you will, of the entire thing. There is something eerie and different about this place, and we have our theories about what exactly is going on here—though I’m not sure we’ll ever know for sure.”
“Theories like what?” Dom asked curiously.
“Dom, let him talk!” Ita muttered angrily.
“It is quite alright, child. He asks a good question. We are not entirely sure, but we know that this world could not be created by the dreaded gremlins and monsters that you see in this world. They simply do not have the power. We believe that there is something else, something behind this world, that created it. We believe that it is possible that whatever that thing is, it is within the Core itself. That is all I know, and all I can really tell you. I encourage you to try and learn more. If you find anything of use, I must ask that you return here and share this information with us. The more we know, the better. I now have other matters to attend to, so please enjoy your stay. I thank you for coming here, as I know how dangerous it is.”
Vaelyn bowed and turned away to talk to a man surrounded by various machines that none of the group could make heads or tails of.
The four wandered around the area, speaking to those who were staying there. None seemed very happy to be there, but they understood how much their research meant, and thus they lived with it. The group feasted heartily, thankful for the replenishment after such a tough task. At last, after finishing the last of their food and saying their goodbyes, they entered the elevator to return home.
“Thank you,” Caede said, before he left, “Thank you for all that you do.”
And with that the four disappeared to return to the surface.
____________________
Caede sat in his kitchen as his dad brought him food, even though Caede insisted that he didn’t need it since he was fed in the Core. His dad didn’t acknowledge this, as he brought a plateful of roasted chicken to the table. Molli sat on his lap, and wrapped her arms around his neck and it seemed as if she didn’t plan on ever letting go.
“So, son, how was it?” his father asked eagerly.
“It was… good. It was scary, and there were many times that I felt it would have just been easier to give up. But… I knew that we couldn’t. We had made it so far, that it would’ve been stupid to just give up then. We were tired, we were frustrated, we were at our wits end, but we just had to do it. I’m pretty sure Dom was going to punch someone at some point, but luckily he had plenty of monsters to take his anger out on.” Caede said with a laugh. “It was good though. I’d say I need a long break before venturing out again… but it was an amazing experience.”
“I knew you’d do it, boy. You ‘n your friends are strong. All of us knew you’d fight through it.”
“Well, thanks for having that confidence in me, even if I didn’t always have it myself.”
Caede ate bits and pieces of the chicken in front of him, but didn’t have the energy or room to fill his stomach on any more. He rose from the table—placing Molli on the chair next to him, much to her displeasure—and stretched, hearing numerous joints cracking in his body.
“I think I need to go sleep for about a month, dad.”, he said, chuckling. “Or maybe a year.”
And with that he went to his bed and slept, dreaming of nothing but his glorious defeat of an evil king.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Ballad of Percible The Brave - By Bukkit (No pictures, see:http://gamerfables.com/Reader.aspx?Story=The+Ballad+of+Percible+the+Love+Puppy&View=18301 for full entry)
This is a tale,
Difficult in the telling.
Of our dear friend Percible,
whose loot we might be selling.
Raised in the wide Jade Tangle,
Living 'tween the trees,
He grew up friends with wolvers,
And had not much for knees.
He decided for himself,
to be a different kind of strong.
Instead of shooting fire,
He'd make your life quite long.
But as with many things,
There is a weight that must be measured,
'Twixt the value of a friend,
And the value of their treasure.
In the end it was decided,
With heavy hearts and eyes,
That despite our newfound friendship,
Dear Percible must die.
The consensus had been reached.
Our arms could not be stopped.
And after all the trouble,
Scrap Metal was all he dropped.
Percible, we will never forget you.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Unknown title- by Milkman
I woke up, stars spinning around my head. What happened? I’m told I’ve crash landed on a foreign planet.
“No time for rest. Get out there and destroy those jellies!” Who is speaking to me? I hear a voice but see no one around. Why am I attacking these native creatures? What have they done to deserve my wrath? Never mind, there’s no time for such thoughts.
Snicker-snack! My blade relishes in the pink flesh dripping down its spine. I can almost feel the warmth it radiates as it drops these strange alien beings. It feels good. But it fades so quickly. I need more!
I continue on my way, guided only by the mysterious voice which has no source.
* * *
I arrive at some sort of camp – a chaotic amalgamation of tents that house more like me. How did we all crash here at the same time? Were we attacked by some strange life form? Were we caught in an asteroid field? Never mind, there’s no time for such thoughts.
Someone is explaining to us the finer points of swordsmanship and gunslinging. He sends me on my way banded together with a few comrades, down into the depths of this world. For what purpose? To kill more native fauna? Never mind, there’s no time for such thoughts.
* * *
I am deemed worthy enough to continue. To where? I know not. I cross a gaping chasm only to arrive at a city crawling with thousands more like me. It seems that our kind has been here quite some time.
As I approach the commander I notice several large figures standing ominously around the town square. I am reassured that they are friendly, only wishing to aid us in our quest: to harvest this planet’s core. Why would these strangers want to help us destroy their planet? Surely they realise that our endeavours will inevitably lead to their death? Never mind, there’s no time for such thoughts.
I’m directed to one of the strangers. Apparently they will teach me to make better weapons in exchange for the shapeless bits of metal I have been collecting from the creatures of this planet. I find that I can understand what he is saying. How has he learnt our language already? Or are these strangers just extremely intelligent? Never mind, there’s no time for such thoughts.
* * *
I delve deep below the planet’s surface, searching for ways to expand my arsenal and earn these crowns that are deemed so valuable on this planet. But above all I seek to exterminate all life I encounter so I may feel the warmth that runs through my gear one more time. I have been exploring the metamorphing lands that exist beneath the crust of this planet for several weeks now. Today I went further than I had ever been before. I saw things that I had never seen before: bizarre creatures and odd landscapes. I opened a gate hidden behind some brambles. Covered in dust, with rust eating away at its core I discovered several robots debilitated by the ages. I read the inscription upon their helmets “Mecha Knights”. What was it our species was called again? Spiral Knights?
My hand brushed against its power cell and I felt a sudden drain upon my energy, almost as if it were being drained into the lifeless robot itself. They looked oddly familiar, almost like a lesser version of our own species. Were they our ancestors who had voyaged to this planet eons ago? Or was this our home planet that we had deserted in ages past for another? Perhaps we had never left? Never mind, there’s no time for such thoughts…
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Firestorm's Flames - By Colbalt (Received in incomplete form)
The citadel, no, not a just a normal citadel, Firestorm Citadel. Inside this forsaken hell lies a kingdom, a fallen empire which turned into ashes. It wasn't always cinders and flames, it was once a very powerful nation named Almire. The head of this nation was Lord Vanaduke, a intelligent and powerful leader. Wars with surrounding nations put enormous amounts of stress on Vanaduke, which caused him to abandon his great nation. When he returned back to his kingdom, he was not the same person he once was, his departure had changed him. Almire was engulfed in fire, along with the blaze, death cried out over the realm and took whomever heard it. This once proud nation is now feared by most Spiral Knights, yet it draws them to it at the same time. Many attempt to make their way to see the king, but do not always come back. Well, lets get on with our story about how two knights tackle this blazing castle.
Username: Cobalt
Password: ********
Please select a knight.
Heading into town...
15%
46%
78%
100%
Loaded!
I have loaded into the Haven Arcade, surrounded by fellow knights. I see a guild chat pop up with a fellow mate greeting me like always.
"Hey Cobalt. :D" shouted a green colored knight named Xerox.
I replied back the usual hey as I click open my friends list to see who is online and what their doing at the moment. After glancing over the list I see another message show up.
"Cob, come here"
"Where Tantartain?"
"Haven 3"
"Meh, coming" I said back to him with, I didn't want to go cause of my deadly slow loading time. I went anyways.
12%
13%
...14%
I cursed my Internet at this slow loading.
56%
89%
100%
Running down to the front of the new Auction House, I see a line of blue. A line of snowy knights all wearing Frost Breaker armor and dozing off. I sat there and watched the knights mingle and talk while enjoying them selves until I get a pink chat pop-up.
"Hey Cobby!" said the message from a fellow knight named Nearo.
I replied back the usual hey and then he asked me a question...
"Wanna try to take down Vanaduke?"
I froze in place. What? Really? We would die, I thought to myself, but my body thought different as I replied back to him a eager yes. Nearo told me to make the party, So I did running back to the arcade and activating a gate going down into the Clockworks.
-Emberlight; Town of Gremlin Outcasts-
I loaded to sound of gremlins pounding away with their hammers and the normal chatter which sounded alot like gibberish to me. After sitting for a moment, I scroll over to the friends list, find Nearo's name and click invite to party. He loaded. A pale color knight appeared next to me in a purple flash of smoke. His Skolver Cap shined brighty, Most of the light that came off it was the reflection of the ring of light on his Grey Owlite Shield. Catching the attention of nearby gremlins, his cloak, The Deadshot Mantle gave off an eerie feeling of death and sorrow, as if the dead themselves had crated the accursed mantle instead of the own it's self. The figure turned to me, pulled out a Gran Faust and greeted me in a joyful tone.
I myself was armored in the Grey Feather set, a Cloak and Cowl made from the most knowledgeable of Owlite Scholars. It glowed with an omniscient aura. But, Instead of wearing that I took use of the Spiral Order's hologram costume technology. I appeared to be wearing a fuzzy red Dusker coat consisting of light plate mail at my hips, and for a hat a wonderful Chapeau of the Red Rose topped with a azure feather. My fur and feather swayed in sync with the gust caused by clockwork mechanisms. Nearo and I exchanged a look and we both walked over the the gate at a slow pace, arming ourselves as we go. I took with me, a Divine Avenger, Shivermist Buster, Storm Driver and a Final Flourish. Nearo took a Gran Faust, Argent Peacemaker, and a Shivermist Buster as well. Our team had easily made it to depth 23, where we sat and talked before going down into the fiery hell hole.
"Should we do this? I mean, What if we... Ya know... Die?" Nearo said to me with a hollow voice.
"Well, If we do die, Either one of us will drop what we are doing and come to the rescue, Hows that sound?" I replied back.
"Sounds good" came from the other knight.
We began to walk towards the gate, the castle icon glared us down every step of the way. Just before getting on it a raspy voice headed us warning...
"Beware, Vanaduke is no small foe. Attempt to chill him to his bone, and you'll will get burned to your soul."
"...Did Basil just warn us? He NEVER talks! This is BAD." I said to Nearo nervously.
Nearo gulped and sat down on the gate, Starting down. I look at Basil, gave him my thanks for the warning and stood next to Nearo.
BZZT! WHIRR!!! FWHHOOOMM! The elevator dropped.
As the elevator took us down, We glanced over the edge of the railing and saw fire, vast amounts of fire, ash, cinders and death. As we got closer to landing on the Black Stone Bridge, the temperature rose and so did our fears. I look at Nearo, who was still mesmerized by the sea of flares and heat. It was magnificent and horrid all at once. We hit the bottom with a loud thud, It jolted both of us back to the burning reality surrounding us. Nearo tugged on my shoulder, and then said, "Look a floating skull, I wonder if it is fri-!" The skull dashed toward Nearo and I, He told us about this place.
"Firestorm Citadel, It's a twisted castle under the control of Lord Vanaduke, The fire that you see burning here, It is not normal fire." As the skull said that to us, he faded away into the embers.
"What have we gotten ourselves into?" Nearo asked with a look of sickness on his face.
"Lets try and forget that we will burn to death here, Ok?" I said back to him, my voice unsteady and cracking.
We advanced to the party pad, The gates dropped. Nothing. No noise expect the cracking of flames and the clanking of the chains holding up the bridge. We both sat there puzzled. We expected more, A horde of undead, a fireball, something at least! Then we heard it. A loud rumble came down from the other side of the mile long bridge, Wheels. Spiked Wheels of Death. Oh fu-
We screamed and ducked behind the blocks in front of us.
"HOLY FU-" I screamed while grasping for air.
"Oh.. my.. god. How do we...? How?" Nearo said back just sitting there in complete awe.
We sat there watching the wheels, seeing if there is a break in their pattern, a gap or something. Bingo, I found it. A small gap big enough for a knight to squeeze through and advance down the bridge. Either Vanaduke left this out, or he love to play with his victims before sending them out in flames. I told Nearo I would destroy the wheels as he recollected himself from behind the stronghold. I took one step out of the fort and they showed themselves. They crawled out of the ground with a ear splitting moan and spat embers out of their joints as they moved, those zombies would be hard to deal with. I froze up for a sec, one of them was creeping towards me slowly, leaving a charred trail of ashes behind.
"COBALT!" Screamed Nearo as he took out his Argent Peacemaker and shoot a clip at the zombie, the bullets whirred past my head and went into the zombies. I snapped back, took out my Storm Driver, got a good aim, and pulled the trigger. BZZT! A cyan colored ball of charged particles bolted from my hand and into the chest of the fiery foe, shocking him to his second death. That could of turned out really bad if Nearo didn't shout my name and defended me.
"Oh wow, Thanks, You saved me big time." I said to him happily and grateful.
"Anytime." He replied back.
Then we heard more rumbling from before and more cracking of bones and the spitting of embers, the wheels and zombies were coming for us. I saw that a zombie sat there while a wheel made it's way down the bridge, crushing everything in it's path. It reached the zombie. CRUNCH! It killed the zombie in one roll, Nearo and I let out a chuckle and decided that the wheels are a neutral obstacle. I made my way up the path, avoiding the fire that was spread through out the floor and also maneuvering the wheels that rain from above. I soon found the traps which shoot out the wheels, They loomed over me with a great aura of "I will crush you." I swapped out my Storm Driver for my Divine Avenger, I lunged the holy sword at the contraption, with a loud sound of splintering wood, the demonic wheel chucker had fallen. I repeated this process for the remaining traps. I shouted back to Nearo that the wheels are no longer an issue but now to avoid the fire. I ran back down to him to find the knight playfully trying on a skull and trying to make a skelly suit out of the remains that littered the area. We both laughed and then continued onward to find yet another party pad.
This pad had 3 wheels surrounding it. Two on the right, and one on the left, they were impossible to break due to their being a charm casted on them, making their defences being ten times then it would be normally. We look at each other, step on the pad ready to fight, but there was no use. The zombies spawned, As so did the wheels, The wheels wiped out all the zombies in a splite second. We sat there dumbfounded. I laughed at how easy this was while we ran around picking up crowns and materials. Then we reached an area with no wheels, This would mean we would have to fight the skellies on our own. We were ready. I charged up my Avenger and Nearo reloaded his Argent. They spawned, I swung my sword and three bullet blades showed up in front of me. They then charged into the crowd of zombies and then proceeding to pierce them and pin then to a wall before exploding in a holy light. Nearo stuck behind me and shot down the survivors. Then a Trojan appeared, It let out a loud whiny and then buffed it's attack up. Nearo and I split up, he took on the Red Rovers behind us which would prove deadly if their flames were not doused. The Trojan spotted me and began to taunt me, I feel for it and ran straight at it. It buffed again, I shielded and the blast shoved me away from the fiend. I have had enough already, I took out my Final Flourish and proceeded to bait an attack from the pony.
He raised his sword as I heard one of the two screeches of a gun puppy behind me, I swirled around behind the huge statue foe as he lifted his stone blade and then lunged my sword at the looming purple crystal that jutting from his back. The Flourish went clean through it, The Trojan let out a cry and then began to smoke and seize up. I withdrew my blade and watched as the horse turned into stone and the purple magic that gave it life dispurced into the air. Nearo had just finished killing the last Rover and was picking up the crowns as I broke the stone mass to do the same. We then gave each other a high five and proceeded to move to the gate. Along down the corridor leading to the elevator led to a room with yet another skull, we ignored this one due to the last one being well... Stupid. We found some treasure blocks to the east and west, along with some Moon Stone and Crimsonite. We then proceeded onto the elevator.
We hit the bottom, I checked my gate map, It read, "The Throne Room"
"Uh.. Nearo... We skipped Charred Court, Ashen Armory, and Smoldering Steps. What the heck?" I asked him excitedly.
"I don't kno-" Just before Nearo could finish his statement, the skull that had faded away from before is back.
"The Lord has summoned you."
A shiver ran down my cloak. "What? Why us?"
"Vanaduke is not the social type, He commands me and I do as he says, Therefore I do not know his reason for your summoning." replied the floating bone.
"I do wish you luck though" and with that said, he faded away yet again into the embers.
Soon after we had gotten over the fact that Vanaduke had wanted to see us almost instantly after enting the Citadel, We thought up of a plan on how to take him down. We had nothing, It would have to be all thought up as we go along. This will be a tough challenge. I had told Nearo that I had heard some guild mates talking about how to Shivermist the lord in place and preventing him from moving. I highly doubt it would work here. I could feel him eyeing us from across the gate and flames, His gaze was like that of rocket fired from a pup, there is no escaping it. We moved up the steps and healed ourselves on the ever lasting heart pads cemented to the floor. I wonder how the Alpha Sqaud got those to stick their, The heat is sure to melt any substance. We finished healing, and we walked to the pad, I tripped and fell hard on the area before me. Vanaduke let out a small chuckle and ignited more flames on his mace. This is it.
"What is this? More hungry wolves for the kingdom of Almire?!" Vanaduke yelled at us for entering his throne room.
"I'm not a wolf, dammit." Nearo said back to him.
I sat there thinking how that comment would get him a mace to his face. As the flames around us went out, we both took out our Shivermist Busters and proceeded to charge them up for use. Vanaduke let out a loud cry and swung his mace in the air. Got him. Frozen in place, as Vanaduke taunting us he didn't see that we snuck up and planted two Shivers at both his feet. We had successfully flashed froze him to the ground. We stepped back, We didn't know what to do next but we knew it needed bullets and static, We got our guns. Vanaduke was silent for a few more moments until he moaned. The throne room glowed from the sudden burst of heat that Vanaduke gave off in a split second, catching both Nearo and I off guard. The ice was gone, So was our hope. From the light produced, I got a good look at Vanaduke, a huge demon wearing armor and a feathery cape behind him. A mask covered a gaping hole in his head filled with fire and rage. His arms were burnt and cracked from heat and fire, They dripped molten heat as he moved about. His mace laid in his right hand, It had also had a cracked charred pattern to it as well, The mace would pose a huge threat to the team if not taken care of.
There was a sudden rush of water from the melted Shivermists, I slipped and fell, My Storm Driver broke in the process. The bright glowing liquid oozed out onto the floor with a crackle and spark. Nearo had accidentally shot off a bullet which zoomed straight into Vanaduke's shoulder. It caught his attention instantly, and he was pissed. Vanaduke lifted his mace and then slammed it hard into Nearo's area, I winced at the sight. Flames shot out and the ground rumbled, fire rained from above. Then saw Nearo in one piece, but not hundred percent ok, He had caught fire.
"OW, THIS BURNS!" Nearo said screaming around the room in a frantic daze.
I pulled myself up and took my broken Storm Driver in hand and threw it at Vanaduke whom was watching his newest toy burn to death. I threw it at him, and I splashed some of the charged ooze onto the Lord. He got shocked and fell to his knees for a few moments, Vanaduke wasn't the only one to get shocked, Nearo had also gotten splashed with the mixture, getting shocked.
"GODAM-BZTT-YOU CO-BZZT- LT" He screamed in pain.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to, I think." I said back to him.
Vanaduke got up again, He was after me. He took his mace in both hands and charged up for a slam. I took out my Divine Avenger and prepared for the worst. He slammed down, I raised my sword. I had pierced his hands with my sword. Vanaduke screamed in pain as magma poured out and the process of turning to stone set in. Meanwhile, the holy aura surrounding my blade had faded. Nearo ran over quickly and climbed up the lord's arms to throw a Shivermist into the flaming crater in his body. As it went off, the flames inside ceased once more, but his mask fell off, it hit the ground with a shatter. Nearo jumped back down and helped me break my sword off into the hands of the fiend, We stepped back afterwards. The flames came back again, melting the ice yet again. He was angry, the flames in the room rose and the heat climbed. The mask covered the soul of Vanaduke, which is now out in the open, his weak spot. He then broke his hands free of my sword and then summoned two rows of fire balls to surround him. We were close to the end. We sat there for a moment while Vanaduke glared us down, panting for breath and gasping for air. Small bolts of red lightning came off his body, his vessel was rejecting him from fatigue.
We had barely any weapons left, just out Shivermists, Gran Faust and a Argent Peacemaker. Vanaduke was proving his worth to us. Since the Divine Avenger went through his clutches, it must of done quite a number, the once burning claws had gone dim. The heart beat of the citadel was starting to fade out. Our armors were also taking quite a number as well, ripped and torn, smashed and broken. The [sic, manuscript ends here]
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Unknown title - By Anonymous participant
The kingdom was quiet, a dark silhouette among flame-hinged clouds and setting sun. Vanaduke looked upon this sight and allowed a smile, the day's deeds done. His burdens over, plans rewritten; woe-begotten, young and smitten Vanaduke addressed his plight, the ever-present ending night. What were it he who had her hand, addressed young duke, upon his plan to sweep her off her lilted feet and carry her to reaches deep.
The duke cared not for politics, as ants, he said, cared more for this; thus set a date for his elopement, to meet her at the gate's enclosement. Once the two of them had reached the hidden gate, this simple feat became quite more than he had intended as they were caught, upreared, upended. A man appeared before the gate, apparently had laid in wait, and thus approached Lord Vanaduke and to this end he spoke the truth:
HALT! Ye who would not steal an honest man's house or meal hath stolen land! That which to me is most precious, more indeed than any riches. This richest land of plenty, nurtured faithfully by many, hath a named and it is she, Scarlet, thy glory be. Do you doth protest this truth, didst thou tarry with this youth? Were it but for simple lust, the two of you could leave from us. The fact remains that we are pledged, a promise made, cannot be hedged. Is it that my kingdom's wealth is more important than thy health? Or is it that my burden be an heir I need, and one that she, Scarlet, hath not provided, merely idled by and bided?
Suddenly, to respond, Scarlet jumped into the frond; laid her hand upon her heart, took a breath and said her part:
O' ye king of Geltan nation, were it just that I had maken this simple and one mistake, one I could pass, not undertake. The truth, your Highness, is that thine fiancee be of a mind to dissent, for I am so discontent. My act of iniquitous nature may perjure my good stature, yet I stand in my defense and hold strong, to my own expense. You speak sooth, my dear king, that I did bide my time in waiting; but for reasons better than your attentions my negating. I desire not to be this Queen you seek, hast thou not seen? My affections doth arise, but in mine eyes they do reprise their role of idle bride-to-be, hastening retreat to he who hath shown me more attention, Vanaduke is he to mention.
Quite suddenly the sun did rise, 'Duke taken aback, quite surprised. Their timing seemed to have been off, no wonder that they had been caught. His long-time enemy, Geltan King, and his expectant bride-to-be addressed this circumstance, as well, and in this situation dwelled. What was it to do, he wondered, knowing that of which he plundered. Danger was of current rising, Vanaduke thus recognizing that in order to escape the two must flee unto the gate. Geltan King, in the meantime, had a set defensive line of guards across the palace wall, attention-ready, standing tall.
The Geltan King, on mounted steed, acknowledged rising sun as he addressed his company of men, a regiment of one hundred-ten. The trap was set, the lure was cast, and in response the fish had passed straight into the feint thus laid, and a successful netting made. He clapped his hands, flicked the reins, flexed his legs and with great pains did make for the cornered couple, recognizing there was trouble. It was Destiny that required the Geltan King to acquire a betrothal with the princess, if there was a truce to press. With his hand outstretched toward her, Geltan King thus did bore her up upon his regal mare, whose golden bridle matched her hair. Truly, this young maid was fair and with an active, jealous air the king began to head toward her fearful father; mighty Lord.
The Lord of Scarlet Fortress was a man of higher fortunes than one to simply be a king, he who wants for naught a thing. Truly this man was a legend as it was he who had beckoned Geltan King to make a pact, to form a pledge to rend; exact. Master of men, builder of lore, strong King Scarlet released a roar as his daughter headed home; to his side, to never roam. He set his piercing sight on 'Duke, threatening him with rebuke. How was he to reform his flightful daughter to perform as a princess should behave; for these actions cannot waive. Plagued now by concerns of her repute being learned, the king welcomed the approach of his kingdom's royal coach.
The Scarlet Princess, with regret, waved farewell to her dear pet. Vanaduke was thus incurred the vengeful wrath of Geltan's gird. His hands were bound with rope, untwined, which grated on his skin unkind. Just as quickly, then, the flaming sky did descend upon the lot a rain of arrows, pelting wagons, causing bellows. At last, it seemed, they had arrived; Vanaduke's cavalry, by his side. He had ordered them to wait 100 paces from the gate from whence he and Scarlet planned to escape from this land. As protection for this excursion he bid them do this incursion should he not return unscathed, for them these instructions he made. [manuscript ends here]
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Spiral Knights - By Nearo
Crash! Thud! Boingggg..
Ow Ow,
Getting out of the Metalic pod he’s in, emerges a humanoid creature clad in armor.
What just happened?
*Bzzt* Your distress signal has been received, recruit.
Good to see you survived the drop in one piece!
you might be a bit woozy, but you should probably head north to get to the rescue camp for other knights before it gets dark. Watch out for hostiles! *bzzt*
Whats even going on here? who am I, where is this, and what was that voice?
ughh, I can’t remember anything. Well, that voice told me to go north, and I don’t have anything better to do.
Heading north, he comes across a group of think waist-high bushes, a mildy rusty sword laying in the shade nearby
Hmm.. I wonder, can these bushes be cut?
Picking the rusty sword up, he judges its weight, and takes a swing at the bush, making a full circle, almost toppling over, and.. cutting the bush! *bzzt* congratz, you’ve obtained 5 rupees! *bzzt*
Whaaa? Joy, something shiny. just what I needed.
Quietly he trudges across a soft patch of grass, until.. A wild jelly appears!
OMG its so jiggly! must kill it with fire! but..
Fire attack denied: no fire weapon.
Well shoot.
Flailing the sword around he manages to scares the jelly who flees into a bush.
Phew.. I feel like that isn’t over though. :(
Slowly the sun is traveling downward, darkness creeping in; suddenly a flashback of a time of once past at dusk pops into his head!
Sitting in the grass, looking up at a sky different from this place, filled with beautiful stars, with it flows other memories.. including a name!
Nearo! I remember my name now!
Rustling in nearby bushes begins, and grows, until a mass of jellies ooze between the bushes.
OMG! theres like fifty slimes! watwatdo oh nooooo Im gonna dieeee, Oh.. maybe only five.. well still.. crud.. Hey what’s that box!
Forgetting about the slimes he Runs over to the box, busting the top off with his swords hilt, to reveal a green colored gun!
Picking it up, he looks into the barrel, revealing the guns insides to be hollow, except for an eerie green glow near the base.
Well here go’s nothing..
Closing his eyes tightly just in case it explodes or something he pulls the trigger..
*Sploosh!* Opening one eye reveals a mere four jellies, and a bit of ooze at their center.
Pulling the trigger again reveals a modest sized green orb that moves through the air at a decent speed, missing the jellies entirely, running backwards he continues to fire,
one down.. two down.. *thud*
Tripping on a rock Nearo topples down onto a patch of solid dirt, as he gains his bearings he feels a moist feeling on his foot..
Eep! Upon firing multiple shots in the direction of his foot, eventually the final sploosh. the jellies defeated.
Eww! it’s in my boot! D: gross gross grosssss, the ground doesn’t look very good for going shoeless though.. sigh, better deal with it. this rescue camp better be worth it.
Setting off on his path north again, right as the light fades out, the land narrows out, forcing him to stay to the left of the path, trying hard not to slip in the dim light, unable to see much anything, until a red glow appears in the distance, emanating from some sort of stick..? I think it’s called a flare..?
Next to it, a knight in azure blue armor..
Hey! hey there! exclaims Nearo eagerly, running up to this fellow knight.
Another living being besides those nasty jellies.. I don’t suppose you know what’s going on here? This weird place..
Hey. Well yeah, since the Skylark crashed a little while back, we’ve been stranded on this planet, recently some of the higher ups learned that at the center of this world there’s a core which may be able to power our ship again.
Wow, well that’s pretty complex.. Oh! Almost forgot, what’s your name?
Cobalt, you?
I’m Nearo! nice to meet you, so.. wanna stay together, at least for now? I mean.. I’m starting to hear some weird noises from outside the camp, and this place seems pretty lonely.
Sure, if you’d like, and don’t forget to tell Greta you’re here, she keeps track of those things. With that, Cobalt walks off further north, to where there’s more flares and some knights.
Following, Nearo glances to his right to see the steep incline leading into an abyss even darker then the night, that no flare can illuminate.
Whoaa boy, I think I’m gonna get sick, Bleeeh!
Nearo runs after Cobalt, until he catches up, where they then walk leisurely over to a corner, where Cobalt unravels a sleeping bag.
Wow, you really come prepared, eh?
Yeah, guess so,
Mmm, wanna share? ;D the ground looks a little hard and cold,
...Sure, I guess the sleeping bags big enough,
With that, Nearo hops in the bag and snuggles up as close to Cobalt as possible,
Hey, too close! *zzz* oh well..
Cmon wake up! its day now,
Aww, 3 more minutes..
No, get up,
Yawning, Nearo slides out of the sleeping bag, stretches, and looks around to see a decent amount of knights all packing up their stuff.
What are they doing?
Sigh, planning to go to haven of course,
Haven?
Yes, Haven, we’re off too.
With that, Cobalt heads north, Nearo following
Soon, a green fog begins to creep in, until they became enveloped in it, unable to see right in front of their faces.
Watch out!
Shooting past Nearo’s head Cobalt blasted a zombie like creature squarely in the chest, blasting it to bits, but it’s parts merging back together into a nearly ‘mint’ condition zombie.
What, how..
Looking over, Cobalt see’s Nearo gazing upon a totem, as he puts his hand onto it, it crumbles. The zombie disintegrating with it.
Hey what’s that ooze over there? running over to the zombies remains, Nearo slips in the ooze.
Ewww, why does this always happen to me? always slimey stuff..
*Chuckle* that’s what happens when you aren’t careful,
Running onward, Nearo making a squish noise of his ooze covered boots on ground, coming across stairs, they tread down into a dark catacomb of passages.
Dead end, check, another dead end, check, another dead end.. and crowns!
Ooh, a switch? Cobby c’mere, maybe both our weights will push it down,
Upon them both standing on the switch, the sound of gears grinding in the floor and walls is heard, followed by a wall sliding into the floor, revealing a new passage, behind them a new wall having came from no where blocking return.
walking down the hall the fog slowly clears until they come to a room with only a little wisp of mist here and there, and 3 small switches on the floor.
Running over, Nearo attempts to put a limb on each switch, to no avail, falling over in the process.
Nice twister moves, exclaims Cobalt, giggling a bit.
Oh! look, theres a passage over there,
Nearo Points over to a corner of the room, where there’s a narrow passage, just big enough for two to squeeze through, upon further searching of the room, two other passages can be found.
What’cha wanna bet that there’s some kind of weight down those passages?
Traveling down the path to the east of the room, they come to an opening, into a small chamber, a statue in the middle, guarded by a massive wolf like beast, mouth foaming.
“Psst, I’ll try to sneak past it,” whispers Nearo.
creeping out from the passage, Nearo tiptoes over to the statue, as he starts to pick it up however, the wolf-beast see’s him, letting out a terrible howl.
Statue in hand, Nearo makes a run for the exit, just as the monster is about to get him, in the nick of time Cobalt jumps forward, slicing the wolves gaping maw, causing it to recoil in pain.
By the time it had recovered, they were long gone down the narrow passage.
Phew, close call back there.. thanks, I was almost wolf chow.
Next time don’t just go rushing on ahead though, that was reckless.
Now back to the main room, they place the statue on one of the switches, which sure enough gets pushed down all the way by it.
One down, two to go?
Rushing down the next path they reach a slightly more open corridor, a spear flying by Nearo’s face, followed by more from every direction, out of various shadowy corners.
Jeez, that almost hit me; I need a shield.
Watching the spears fly around for a while, Nearo finds a path forward where the spears miss, carefully proceeding through he gets to the other side, gets the statue, and go’s back through.
Nice dodge work there Nearo~
“Thanks, ‘bout time I’m not an utter liability,” Nearo says, dropping the statue to hug Cobalt.
Cobbbyy~
Ignoring him, Cobalt heads back down the passage, Nearo sliding off bit by bit,
upon reaching the ground, Nearo gets back up and grabs the statue.
Wait up Cobby!
Upon setting the 2nd statue down on it’s switch, a grinding can be heard through the halls, one switch still left.
Lets hurry now, I’m getting really tired of this place,
Nearo and Cobalt run down the third path, obscured in hazy green fog.
Reaching the statue, seemingly unguarded, Nearo runs forward, in a second the room fills, enveloping him in undead, closing in.
Remembering his gun, he pulls it out, shooting one of the undead down, and rushing through the opening it left behind, feet squishing on its decomposed body.
Running backwards, he shoots more, taking down one, two, three more.
Annnd, then he trips over his feet, Cobalt comes up from behind, smashing in the head of a zombie about to pounce upon him.
Thanks, that could’ve ended badly real quick.
Finishing off the last of the zombies, they run off to to the main room, upon placing the final switch, the earth shakes, as the massive gates across the room slowly open, revealing stairs leading upward.
Wow..
Heading up the stairs, they walk for a long time, until they eventually reaching the light, a path of dirt and grass bathed in light from the sun, leading to a gate a little ways off.
Reaching the gate, they get stopped by a knight in amazing armor, a helmet covering their face except for two slits, at their side a sword as big as them.
“Welcome to Haven, the resting place between expeditions through the clockworks,” greets the stranger
Walking in they come into a walled in area, with two arches across from it, walking through coming into a massive clearing, a fountain in the middle, behind it a giant building with knights working on it. To the right, a large cliff. To the left, a hill with a bunch of stalls and buildings atop.
A knight walks up to them, “Welcome to haven! I’m Delso, would you like a tour?”
“Uh, yes please, that would be really nice,” replies Nearo
Leading Nearo and Cobalt all around the town, Del’ points out various things, explaining them.
Hey what about that building over there?
Oh, that’s the Auction house in construction, it’ll be done pretty soon,
And over here.. This is an alchemy machine, You insert blueprints into this slot, your weapon, required items of the blueprints, along with the machines fee, to make your weapon stronger!
Ooh that’ll come in handy I bet.
While they’re talking Cobalt walks up to the machine, takes of their gear and puts it into the machine with some things from their pocket, putting on the newly made gear.
Oooh Cobby, new gear??
Yeah, old was a little worn for wear, well getting a little tired, so about lodging?
Well.. most knights like sitting on the grass under the sky, but there are a few places ranging from a canopies to lodging places.. and a mansion in the clockworks, but farther down then I’d recommend traveling yet, and in the morning you should check in with Feron, he’ll brief you on your mission and such.
Cobalt heads off for the bazaar, and a canopy there, and Nearo follows, calling out thanks to Delso as he go’s.
Yawn, morning.. Hey where’d Cobby go? Oh well, I’m sure we’ll meet up again soon enough, hm.. so that Feron guy, eh?
Running up to a random knight Nearo finds out that Feron can be found north in the arcade; the gateway to the clockworks.
After getting lost for a while, Nearo finds a path inbetween some stalls, leading under the cliff into a darker area, running into the passage Nearo comes out in a large cave, with an expanse to the right, a stone wall to the left that looks carved out, and straight ahead.. The ceiling curves up to reveal the sky again, shining light upon eight glowing towers, four of which have elevators in front of them at the edge of the drop off, the other four with a hole and some gems by the edges.
As he watches, all the towers zoom downward out of sight, all the gates having moved right, the farthest left gate now replaced by next over, with a new gate on the far right.
Wow! that was amazing, they just were all like wooooshhh, whooo ..and I’m talking to myself aren’t I.. Oh! there’s a bunch of stuff and people over there,
Running over to the spot he noticed, there’s a group of knights sitting around machines, and governing them, a larger then life knight in gear similar to the knight at the gate.
H-hello sir, I don’t suppose you would know of a Feron?
That is I! and you are?
Um, I guess that’s what I thought you’d know? I got here last night..
Ah, a new recruit, so you see.. Since the Skylark crashed we’re stuck here, right?
well we’re trying to harness this worlds power to fix it, and you can help by going into the clockworks and collecting minerals, feeding the gates, and creating new ones like just happened.
O-oh okay.. well I guess I might as well then, thanks I guess! bye
Running over to the gates, Nearo picks one at random, and as soon as he stands on the elevator it zooms down right under his feet, into the depths.
Ughhhh, I’m gonna be sick!
Gaining his wits, He looks around, to see a whole world of green fields and blue sky! gears turning in the air near the edges of sky.
Whoa, what is this place?
Before he could finish wondering a wolf creature came out of the ground in front of him, on pure reflexes Nearo swings his sword, hitting the wolver, slicing it as it attempts to attack again, after a minute of this the wolver falls motionless, disappearing in a puff, leaving behind some of it’s fur.
Ooh, fur!
Picking it up he stuffs it into some pocket.
Are there no friendly creatures here besides knights..?
Skraaa!
A tongue flying out of nowhere grabs Nearo’s gun right out of his hand, eating it.
Gah! give me my gun back!
Running after it Nearo chases it for 5 minutes, until he finally catches up, and it spits out the gun.
Finally..
Looking around Nearo finally notices that he’s surrounded by cliffs in all directions but from which he came, 6 wolvers creeping up from this direction.
Whoops! I’m in trouble..
As one leaps, Nearo takes a swing at it, managing to hit it, knocking it back.
Within a second it’s back up though, ready to fight.
Deciding violence is inevitable, Nearo initiates the 2nd attack, running at one, swinging at it, knocking it into the air, as it flies, he pulls his gun out and takes a shot, right as the bullets about to hit it, It miraculously reaches the cliff wall, springs off it, dodging his gun with unbelievable ease.
Note to self, these things don’t like guns much.
Switching back to his sword he makes another cut, hitting two at once, knocking both back. Turning into smokey puffs they both vanish, leaving behind some claws and fur.
After a few minutes of fighting he beats the others, yielding more fur and stuff, picking it all up he continues on.
Walking around Nearo comes across amazing cliffs, fields higher then his head, more wolves, a few giant lizards like before, and a worn for wear shield! or maybe it’s a rock..
Until he comes to an elevator like before.
Crud, I gotta ride another one of these!?
Wincing he gets on, only to discover that it go’s a whole lot slower then before now.
slowly traveling down he watches the blue sky and hardly noticeable gears fade into a ton of gears, and a much darker place, almost impossible to see in.
When the lift stops Nearo’s left in utter darkness and the sound of dripping on rock, somewhere in the darkness there’s a little light, illuminating the edges of a path way,
following the darkness Nearo reaches a lamp confirming his suspicions; being in a cave.
Down one path comes a Gremlin Jaunting along carrying a lamp with him, and an axe
Uh hi.. do you kno-
INTRUDER INTRUDER! INTRUDER IN THE CAVES! CALLING ALL GREMLINS!
From the path he came from a whole mob of gremlins followed, with axes, staffs, and some carrying dynamite.
Waiiiit, what’d I do?
Ignoring his question the gremlins rush, swinging their axes with a clear intent to kill.
Clashing their axes upon his shield and sword, the gremlins lift their axes again, making another chop. Sighing unhappily, Nearo hits the gremlins with the flat side of his sword, knocking a few out, forced to cut those that continued to fight in that wave, to Nearo’s awe, the gremlins with staffs begin to chant, their staffs glowing, as they do so the axe gremlins injuries glow and close up, good as new.
Feeling his sword, it seems to get a little lighter in his hand. focusing his energy on his sword it begins to glow in itself, releasing it out he swings, knocking back all the gremlins, pushing over the healers in the process, running over them down one passageway he hears an explosion from one of the gremlins’ bomb.
Already he hears more shouting, running faster down corridors, trying to find a way out of this place, coming down one path leads into a room filled with vibrantly glowing crystals of rainbow colors.
Whoa.. is this that mineral Feral mentioned?
Swinging his sword at a blue one he cuts a chunk of it, and puts it onto his back with a sling thing found on the ground next to some pick axes.
Running back the way he came he bumps into a gremlin,
Oi watch where you’re going, there’s an intruder I need to find!
before the gremlin can notice him clearly Nearo runs down a different passage
Some people, no respect..
As the gremlins start to catch up, Nearo ducks under a ledge without any lighting, watching a dozen or more gremlin feet pattering past, with shouts for the intruder.
Looking around under this ledge, Nearo discovers a narrow passage just big enough for him and his crystal. Crawling through he reaches the lift
“Finally!” exclaims Nearo, by the time he realizes how loud he exclaimed it, so have nearby gremlins.
Quickly running onto the lift, he hears gremlins shouting right outside the room as he descends.
As he descends, he reaches a place of an orange glow, with a bunch of minerals to each side, at the other side of the room a stranger, and the next lift!
Ooh, he doesn’t look too hostile!
When the lift stops, he quickly cuts a mineral out, and runs up to the stranger.
Hi!
Hello.. I am Basil, I travel these clockworks.. selling my goods to such knights as yourself.. would you like to purchase my wears?
Um, what do you have?
Lets see.. currently.. I have the recipes for.. alchemers, wolver coats, vitasuits.. and some fencing gear..
Ooh, coats? I’d like to buy one!
That’ll be... 1,000 crowns..
Crowns?
Yes.. the currency you find in the clockworks.. check in your back pocket with that wolver fur and you should find some..
Reaching into his back pocket Nearo pulls out some gold and silver coins,
Where’d these come from..? Hey! how’d you know about my wolver fur?
I just know.. so are you going to buy the coat..?
Yes please!
Handing over most of his crowns Nearo obtains a recipe to make a wolver coat.
Thanks mister!
Come again anytime...
Walking over to the gate, Nearo notices Cobalt sitting by it.
Cobby! found you~
Hey.
Hm, whatcha doin here?
Same as you.
So.. wanna go up back? I need to make my new coat, and give Feron these minerals!
Sure.
Hoping onto the lift they head up, When they Get back Nearo gives his minerals to Feron, and makes his coat, feeling suddenly tired as if drained of energy from making it, which is just as well as it’s getting dark.. Heading over to the fountain Nearo meets up with Cobalt again, lying there for a while looking at the sky, they fall asleep..
The End!
For now anyway..
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thank you everyone for reading and participating! Let me know *IGN: Kingdomslayer* if you would like me to hold another one of these!
Congrats to the winners!
I think we're gonna need a format outside of the forums to read those. There's something about these forums that makes long posts near impossible to read for me. :/